Assessing the Reliability of Schwarz Analysis for Mandibular Length in South India

Racial, ethnic, sexual, and nutritional variances all have an impact on malocclusion and craniofacial growth in the South Indian inhabitants which is diverse in terms of ethnicity and culture. Therefore, the assessment and diagnosis of craniofacial anomalies depend critically on the availability of standard standards for the local population. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the accuracy of Schwarz's analysis in determining mandibular length in the population of South India. One hundred orthodontic patients' lateral cephalograms were evaluated in this retrospective study. Four age and gender-based categories were created from the sample. FACAD software was used to digitally measure the mandibular body length and anterior cranial base length. Using the formula from Schwarz's analysis, the mandibular body length was calculated. The significance of the calculated and actual mandibular body lengths for the entire sample and the four groups were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The significance (p-value) value was set as 0.05. The estimated and actual mandibular lengths did not differ statistically significantly (P-value > 0.05) in mature females or males of any age, but there was a significant difference (P-value < 0.001) in growing females. Under the limitations of the present study, Schwarz's analysis is reliable for estimating mandibular body length in girls of non-growing age groups and males of all ages. Careful use of the analysis is necessary when it comes to expanding females in the South Indian population.